Boiling point 50 °C | Appearance Colorless liquid | |
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Methoxyamine is the organic compound with the formula CH3ONH2. Also called O-methylhydroxylamine, it a colourless volatile liquid that is soluble in polar organic solvents and in water. It is a derivative of hydroxylamine with the hydroxyl hydrogen replaced by a methyl group. Alternatively, it can be viewed as a derivative of methanol with the hydroxyl hydrogen replaced by an amino group. It is an isomer of N-methylhydroxylamine and aminomethanol. It decomposes in an exothermic reaction (-56 kJ/mol) to methane and azanone unless stored as a hydrochloride salt.
Contents
Synthesis
Methoxyamine is prepared via O-alkylation of hydroxylamine derivatives. For example, it is obtained by O-methylation of acetone oxime followed by hydrolysis or the O-methylated oxime:
(CH3)2CNOCH3 + H2O → (CH3)2CO + H2NOCH3The other broad method involves methanolysis of hydroxylamine sulfonates:
H2NOSO3− + CH3OH → H2NOCH3 + HSO4−Reactions
Like hydroxylamine, methoxyamine forms oximes upon treatment with ketones and aldehydes.
Methoxyamine is used as a synthon for NH2+. It undergoes deprotonation by methyl lithium to give CH3ONHLi. This N-lithio derivative is attacked by organolithium compounds to give, after hydrolysis, amines:
H2NOCH3 + CH3Li → LiHNOCH3 + CH4LiHNOCH3 + RLi → RNHLi + LiOCH3RNHLi + H2O → RNH2 + LiOHUses
Methoxyamine is an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor with potential adjuvant activity. Methoxyamine covalently binds to apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) DNA damage sites and inhibits base excision repair (BER), which may result in an increase in DNA strand breaks and apoptosis. This agent may potentiate the anti-tumor activity of alkylating agents.
Examples of drugs incorporating the methoxyamine unit are brasofensine and gemifloxacin.